Photography is a subject that most wound care professionals are usually eager to discuss. Many in the field realize that photography is a valuable asset to the industry. However, some are frustrated at having to use two separate photography systems; one for monitoring a patient’s care, and another for protection against litigation in court. Others are unsure which of these two areas the facility should be focusing more energy and funds into.

There are several types of options available when it comes to wound care photography, each offering unique advantages. Despite trends that show a mov

Compliance in the US generally means adherence to laws and regulations. Corporate scandals and breakdowns such as the Enron case in 2001 have highlighted the need for stronger compliance regulations for publicly listed companies. In the medical world, focus is on maintaining regulatory compliance in all activities of documentation and coding for billing professional services. The importance of documentation has been emphasized throughout this issue of TWC. With regulatory organizations closely monitoring activities, patient quality of care at stake, and the financial success of a wound center

While repetition and communication may be the cornerstones of effective marketing; it is the use of relevant, focused data that relates to specific target markets that provides results. There are literally thousands of giveaways that will help referring practitioners with name recognition and contact information. Answer these questions: What do referring physicians remember about a clinic or its services? Do they remember the case study information and clinic services?

Competing in the Market
For most wound clinics and wound specialists, marketing budgets tend to be relatively small. Bill

Documenting Your Success

here is an ancient Chinese proverb which says, the palest ink is better than the best memory. This issue is about medical documentation. These days, documentation may or may not be done with ink, but there is no question about the importance of providing a record of the care we have provided. The issue of documentation is enormously complex. The topic includes not only how information is to be collected (with paper, electronically or even some mixture of the two), but also how information will be used.

To begin, we will take a 30,000-foot view of documentation,